The Colorado State University Pueblo men’s basketball team’s season comes to an end last week as they split their final two home games at Massari Arena.
With an upset win, 77-74, over the Metro State University Denver Roadrunners on Thursday (Feb. 27) and a narrow loss, 76-71, to the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers on senior night on Saturday (March 1).
The team’s thrilling upset victory over the Roadrunners featured exciting plays on both ends of the floor as there were six ties and seven lead changes in the game. Coming into the game, the Roadrunners were the No. 2 overall seed in the RMAC whereas the ThunderWolves entered as the No. 12 seed in the RMAC.
The ThunderWolves finish the season below .500 with an overall record of 12-16 and an 7-13 overall record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play.
The Pack did well at home with a 9-6 record at Massari Arena but could not put the pieces together on the road as they finished with a 3-9 record.
Brevin Walter, De’Shaun Cooper and Armon Muldrew played their final collegiate games of their careers against Mines last Saturday. The three seniors left it all out on the floor against two top three opponents in the RMAC.
Mines clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference with MSU Denver falling to the No. 3 seed after losing to the ThunderWolves last Thursday.
Four CSU Pueblo players finished the game in double-figures, with senior Walter leading the way, tallying a game-high 22 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists.
Junior forward Victor Lado continued his strong production with 22 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He shot 8-12 from the field and 2-2 from beyond the arc. Cooper scored 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and shot an efficient 5-10 from the field.
The ThunderWolves also had the bench point advantage over the Roadrunners at 31-13, as well as the shooting advantage, where they shot 26-54 (48.1 percent) compared to the Roadrunners’ 31-71 (43. 7 percent).
The game came down to the final minute as both teams traded the lead back and forth up and down the final stretch. Lado had a crucial dunk to put the Pack in front, 73-72 with 1:14 remaining. But the Roadrunners would respond with a put-back bucket in the paint from Quave Propst-Allison, who finished the game with a team-high nine rebounds for the Roadrunners.
Walter sealed the deal for the Pack after hitting a jumper in the paint with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to give the ThunderWolves a 75-74 lead, before icing the game by knocking down a pair of free-throws with 7-seconds left on the clock.
Before the ThunderWolves’ final home game of the season against Colorado School of Mines on Saturday (March 1), the team recognized their three seniors: Muldrew, Cooper and Walter during their annual senior day ceremony.
In his final game for the Pack, Cooper had nine points, six rebounds and became the 28th member of the 1,000-career point club, which is something that he accomplished during the team’s game against Black Hills State earlier in the season.
Walter scored seven points, three rebounds, two assists and surpassed the 2,000-career points mark, which is something that he accomplished earlier in the season during the team’s final away game against Adam’s State. He ends his career with 2,041 career points.
Muldrew also showed out in his final game as he had 16 points, two rebounds, three assists, shot 6-14 from the field and 4-8 from three-point range.
In the game, the ThunderWolves were outscored in bench points, 31-13, and also lost the battle on the glass. 37-29,which allowed Mines to score 12 second-chance points.
The ThunderWolves will go back to the drawing board this offseason after failing to reach postseason and finishing in 11th place in the RMAC.
Last season, the ThunderWolves finished in eighth place in the RMAC but fell short to Fort Lewis in the quarterfinal round of the RMAC tournament.
